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Story perspectives

Buybacks and Dividends Outshine IPOs in Cash Flow

9/26/2025

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Summary

Story summary

Secondary issues, buybacks, and dividends contribute more to company cash flows than IPOs.
In 2021, IPOs raised $30 billion.
Secondary offerings raised nearly $170 billion in 2021.
Buybacks total about $1 trillion annually, with the top 11 companies accounting for about $500 billion of buyback announcements.
Dividends are similar in size to buybacks and tend to be stable over time.

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Story summary

Secondary issues, buybacks, and dividends contribute more to company cash flows than IPOs.
In 2021, IPOs raised $30 billion.
Secondary offerings raised nearly $170 billion in 2021.
Buybacks total about $1 trillion annually, with the top 11 companies accounting for about $500 billion of buyback announcements.
Dividends are similar in size to buybacks and tend to be stable over time.